GOP Retirements, Smartphones At School, & Absent Teachers
February 20, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Tuesday! Today, we’re talking about Rafah, Republicans retiring, smartphones in the U.K., Red Sea conflicts, computer chips, a bank merger, and teachers taking time off.
Here’s some good news: Flowers grown on inexpensive floating platforms can help clean polluted waterways, with marigolds being the most successful. The cut flowers can then generate income by being sold. Also, Xolair was greenlit by the Food and Drug Administration to help reduce severe allergic reactions to things like milk, eggs, walnuts, and even peanuts.
“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” – Calvin Coolidge
Biden Balks At Bibi’s Blueprint
Israel is preparing for a ground assault on the city of Rafah, where over half of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are sheltering. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that the offensive will begin in just under three weeks if Hamas does not hand over its remaining hostages to Israel. The date set by the IDF marks the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan. There are estimated to be about 130 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, 30 of whom are presumed dead at the moment.
Unfortunately for Israel, its closest ally isn’t pleased with the ultimatum. The U.S. has urged Israel to avoid a ground offensive in Rafah, instead proposing a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a temporary ceasefire in the conflict – marking the first time that the White House has called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. It’s not clear if the U.S. plans to actually submit the proposal to a vote (or if it would even pass the Security Council), but experts say that it might become a crucial bargaining chip as the White House attempts to avert a crisis in Gaza.
The House Of Retirement
The GOP is facing a grand old exodus as the House of Representatives continues to struggle through one of the most turbulent sessions of Congress ever. So far, the 118th Congress has seen a historically-long race for speaker, the ousting of that speaker, an expulsion of a member, and a multitude of failed votes despite the GOP’s majority. 23 GOP Representatives have resigned or declared that they won’t be running for re-election, including five House committee chairs.
“When you’re divided in your own conference, the joy of the job is harder,” said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska. Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana, who’s announced his resignation plans, added, “Those are big losses for us. It is alarming. Especially for the institutional knowledge … that’s a big deal.”
Some Republicans are less concerned. “Brain drain? Why don’t you survey the country and see if there is any brain to drain in Congress. Congress has a 20% approval rating. Most of what we do to the country is bad,” said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good. “I think the retirements are a wonderful thing … I have no concerns, zero concerns. We probably need a few more retirements.” We’ll see if all the new blood will lead to a Republican revival, or if the party will just continue to eat itself alive.
This Here’s A No-Phone Zone, Innit
- On Monday, U.K. education ministers confirmed that the country is planning to ban the use of mobile phones in schools nationwide. The ministers released a sort of menu of guidances that schools can choose to adopt – some of the menu items include rules forcing students to leave their phones at home, other rules making them hand their phones in on arrival, or a nicer rule allowing students to keep their phones as long as they aren’t heard or used.
- “You go to school, you go to learn, you go to create those friendships, you go to speak to people and socialize and you go to get educated – you don’t go to sit on your mobile phone or to send messages whilst you could actually talk to somebody,” said Gillian Keegan, the country’s education secretary. Many schools across the U.K. have already banned smartphones, but the government says the new rules will “empower” schools that haven’t fully banned them.
A Hot Weekend For The Houthis
- On Sunday night, a Belize-flagged, British-registered cargo vessel was struck by Houthi missiles, causing the crew to abandon ship. According to security firms, the ship was carrying “very dangerous,” highly explosive fertilizer. A spokesman for the Houthis has claimed that the ship was forced to a “complete halt” thanks to the attack, and the owners are reportedly considering towing the vessel.
- While the Houthis scored a large victory in the Red Sea, the U.S. also made waves in the area over the weekend. According to U.S. Central Command, American forces shot and destroyed an unmanned underwater vessel (UUV) – basically an underwater drone – over the weekend, marking the first time that the U.S. has observed and destroyed one of the drones since the Houthis began attacking cargo ships in the area late last year. CENTCOM noted that it had hit four other targets over the weekend, including multiple anti-ship missiles and an unmanned surface vessel.
Additional World News
- 12 alleged cartel members killed by Mexican soldiers near U.S. border (CBS)
- Migrant who piloted dingy that sank in English Channel found guilty of manslaughter (ABC)
- Dozens of men killed in Papua New Guinea tribal violence, police say (NPR)
- American man admits to attacking 2 U.S. tourists and killing one of them near a German castle (NBC)
- WikiLeaks founder Assange may be near the end of his long fight to stay out of the US (ABC)
- The Taliban Refuses to Come the U.N. Conference on Afghanistan (NYT, $)
Pass The CHIPS, Please
- The White House announced yesterday that it will provide $1.5 billion to the computer chip company GlobalFoundries to expand its domestic production in New York and Vermont thanks to the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. In addition to the direct funding, the company will also get loans worth up to $1.6 billion.
- GlobalFoundries plans to break ground on a new factory in New York, increase production at its existing factory, and renovate an existing factory in Vermont. The projects are expected to create 1,500 manufacturing jobs and 9,000 construction jobs over the next decade. Some of the money will also go to training and extending the company’s existing $1,000 annual subsidy for child care to construction workers.
Big Bank Take Slightly-Less-Big Bank
- Two of the largest U.S. credit card companies are about to team up. Capital One is planning to buy credit card issuer Discover with an all-stock transaction valued at $35.3 billion. Discover is one of the four major U.S. credit card processors, along with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, which could be a good source of fees for Capital One.
- Capital One is valued at $52.2 billion, LSEG data shows, and Discover has a market capitalization of $27.6 billion. President Biden has made competition a key focus of his administration, so the deal will likely face some hurdles. “It will be the first big test of bank merger regulation since the Biden administration’s executive order on promoting competition in 2021,” said one expert.
Additional USA Reads
- ‘Unconscionable’ criminal justice bills could fuel soaring incarceration in Louisiana (Guardian)
- What we know about Audrii Cunningham, the missing Texas girl who vanished after she left for school (CNN)
- Wisconsin adopts new legislative maps, giving Democrats chance to win state (Guardian)
- How judges in D.C. federal court are increasingly pushing back against Jan. 6 conspiracy theories (CBS)
- At least 1 dead, 5 injured in shooting at Indianapolis Waffle House (NBC)
- Trump compares Russian opposition leader Navalny’s death to his own legal woes (NBC)
Teachers Learn About Self-Care
- You’ve probably already heard about how schools are struggling in the wake of the pandemic. Students are performing worse, acting out more, and missing school in record numbers. According to the data, though, there’s yet another problem for our education system – teachers are also missing school at a record pace, leaving administrators scrambling to find replacements while students are also hurt by the rise in teacher absences.
- In the 2022-23 school year in New York City, almost 20% of all teachers were absent for over 11 days, marking a notable increase in teacher absenteeism from the year before and from pre-Covid years. In Michigan, about 15% of teachers were absent any given week, a 50% increase over 2019. Making things even worse is the fact that the country is facing a shortage of substitute teachers to cover the rise in absences.
- The rise in teachers calling out from school is part of a larger nationwide trend of employees taking more time off for mental health reasons. Teachers have been especially under pressure in recent years, given increased professional demands and the politicization of education. They also get paid less than other similarly demanding professions – which is especially true for the substitute teachers needed to cover for the absences. Schools have successfully attracted more subs with higher pay, but the shortage of money in education might make that strategy ineffective in the long term.
Additional Reads
- Near-record winds over the Northeast push passenger planes to speeds over 800 mph (NPR)
- Abraham Lincoln pardoned Biden’s great-great-grandfather after Civil War-era brawl, documents reportedly show (CBS)
- Poll Ranks Biden as 14th-Best President, With Trump Last (NYT, $)
- Comac C919: China’s homegrown passenger aircraft makes international debut (CNN)
- The EU opens formal probe into TikTok over online protection of children (CNN)
- In latest lunar landing trial, Intuitive Machines hopes to get U.S. back to the moon (NPR)